Kieran Maguire

Sat 1 January 2022 18:00, UK

Newcastle United may be able to use the Premier League’s exemptions panel to bypass Brexit rules and lure “bargain” signings to St James Park.

So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about how Newcastle will fare in the transfer market this January.

As relayed by iNews on Thursday (30 December), the top-flight have extended the work permit exemptions panel into the January window.

The panel was due to end last summer (2020) but Premier League decision-makers elected to push back amid ongoing Brexit-related complications.

Brexit has made hidden-gem deals harder to engineer, with a player’s international caps among the factors now considered in work permit applications.

iNews also report that new-money Newcastle will make a point of not being held to ransom as they look to recruit players this month.

Maguire claims that the exemptions panel, which costs just £5,000 to convene, could be a lifeline for the Magpies in the mid-season window.

“They are right to say they won’t be held to ransom, of course,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.

“But they would say that. If they didn’t, they would just be a laughing stock in the eyes of other clubs.

“Clubs will see this as an extra incentive. If they want the player it’s a useful way of circumventing the post-Brexit constraints.

“They will see it as an additional cost that they are prepared to bear if it gives them a shot at bargain signings in January.”

Newcastle, the world’s richest club after their takeover by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, are currently second-from-bottom in the Premier League.

Eddie Howe’s side have won just once all season and recruitment could be vital if they are to beat the drop.

In other news, Newcastle United tipped to “push the boat out” to complete Anthony Marital signing after Sky update.